The Snack Social: Curds & Whey Through the Berkshires
By Patricia Racine
September 2026
Cheesemaking began in Massachusetts long before the current giant cheese states of New York and Vermont even became populated; the English Puritans brought the area's first dairy cows in 1624, four years after the Pilgrims landed on the rock. Their farm wives were making cheeses modeled after the traditional British Cheshire and Cheddar varieties; by the early 1700s towns in the Berkshires were popping up and the area became the cheesemaking central for the state.
Cheshire has the best cheesemaking story in the county and possibly the most famous publicity stunt in American history. When Thomas Jefferson was elected president, an eccentric Baptist preacher, Elder John Leland, from Cheshire hatched a plan for a special gift to show Jefferson how much the town supported him in the form of a 1,235-pound wheel of Cheshire-style cheese. About 900 cows owned by democratic Republicans (absolutely no Federalist cows contributed) provided the milk for the wheel that was inscribed with the motto “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” It was personally delivered to Washington, D.C. and presented to the new president by Leland. Strangely, the cheese was placed in the East Room and served to foreign and domestic guests for years; by 1804 it was still sitting there and had become pretty ripe, which led to its fate of being dumped into the Potomac River. I wonder how long it took to get that stinky cheese smell out of that room.
Massachusetts Cheese Guild has an official Cheese and Wine Trail that you can follow throughout the Bay State, but here is one that I have curated to hit all our local cheese starts and can easily be done in a weekend.
1. Grace Hill Farm in Cummington has been either a sheep or dairy cow farm since the 1700s and has been producing some amazing cheeses under the expertise of Max Breiteneicher, who received his training at my favorite cheese farm, Jasper Hill. They make five types of cheese from a herd of 12 or so cows that graze their little hearts out in 20 different pastures.
2. Cricket Creek in Williamstown is a model for sustainability farming and raw milk artisanal farmstead cheeses. Their flagship cheese, Maggie’s Round and their aged version of this, Maggie’s Reserve, have both won first and second place each at the American Cheese Society Competition, making them the most awarded cheesemakers in Berkshire County.
3. High Lawn Farm in Lee has only been making cheese since 2017, but they’ve been a local milk distributor since 1923. In 1902, the estate was given as a wedding gift to Lila Vanderbilt Sloane and her husband W.B. Osgood Field–most people just get a set of knives. The farm that came with the estate was turned into the iconic buildings you see now and used as a playground for the couple’s children; by the 1920s one of those children, Marjorie Field Wilde had the vision of turning it into an all-Jersey farm to provide her community with fresh, high quality dairy products. Their head cheesemaker, Matt Schweitzer, has taken that beautiful Jersey milk and turned it into some lovely cheeses, two of which have won second (Siegfried’s Pride '23) and third place (Crema Alpina '26) at the American Cheese Society conference.
4. Rock Ledge Farm in Otis is our own little hidden gem located way down a bumpy dirt road. Not only can you pick up some lovely creamy, flavorful and fresh chèvre and goat feta, but they have activities like a petting zoo, farm tours, milking demos and often beautiful Nubian goats available for sale. All of this in our backyard, who could ask for more?
The best time to visit these farms is definitely through summer and early fall when the cows are in pasture and since cows are naturally curious animals, they will most likely mosey over to give you a sniff, head butt and lick. And don’t forget to bring icepacks so you can bring home lots of the lovely local cheeses you find. Spending a day at these beautiful farms is good for the soul in the peace that surrounds you, good for the heart in the gentle beauty of the animals and good for the body in the form of truly superior cheese made the way God intended it to be made, naturally.
At the time of publishing, I will have held my first Snack Social Cheese Tasting and am setting up dates for more in the coming months. If you would like to attend one of these fun and educational afternoons tasting and learning about some fabulous cheeses, or host your own private event with me, please contact me at snacksocial13@gmail.com. Nothing brings people together like good cheese and conversation, and I am always looking for my fellow turophiles.
